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IS  THELRE.  A 

3ANTA 
CLAUS? 


UC-NRLF 


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IS  THERE  A  SANTA 
CLAUS? 


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ivS  there:  a 
3ANTA 
CLAUvS  ? 


JACOB  A.RIIS 


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THE    MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1922 

^11  rights  reserved 


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COPYRIGHT,  1904 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN'  COMPANY 

SET  UP  AJST)  ELECTROTYPED 
PUBLISHED  OCTOBER,  19O4 
REPRINTED  DECEMBER,  1 9^4 
REPRINTED  NOVEMBER,  1912 


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IS  THERE  A  SANTA 
CLAUS? 


a 


D 


EARMR.  RIIS: 
^^A  little  chap 
of  six  on  the  Western 
frontier  writes  to  us  : 


*'  'Will  you  please  tell  me 
if  there  is  a  Santa  Claus? 
Papa  says  not.' 

^'  Won't  you  answer 
him? " 

That  was  the  mes- 
sage that  came  to  me 
from  an  editor  last  De- 


r..^*-.-^' 


cember  just    as    I   was 
going    on     a    journey. 
Why  he  sent  it   to  me 
I  don't  know.    Perhaps 
it  was  because,  when  I 
was   a    little   chap,    my 
home    was   way  up  to- 
ward  that  white   north 
where   even    the    little 
boys  ride  in  sleds  behind 
reindeer,    as     they    are 
the    only    horses    they 
have.       Perhaps  it  was 
because   when  I   was  a 
^*X"^^^  "%.  young  lad  I  knew  Hans 
WT^      Christian    Andersen, 
1^  who    surely    ought    to 
J  A^-  ^    •     know,    and    spoke    his 
'^^^^^^'        tongue.   Perhaps  it  was 

\ 


both.  I  will  ask  the 
editor  when  I  see  him. 
Meanwhile,  here  was 
his  letter,  with  Christ- 
mas right  at  the  door, 
and,  as  I  said,  I  was 
going  on  a  journey. 

I  buttoned  it  up  in 
my  great  coat  along  with 
a  lot  of  other  letters  I 
didn'thave  time  to  read, 
and  I  thought  as  I  went 
to  the  depot  what  a  pity 
it  was  that  my  little 
friend's  papa  should 
have  forgotten  about 
Santa  Claus.  We  big 
people  do  forget  the 
strangest  way,  and  then 


we  haven't  got  a  bit  of 
a  good  time  any  more. 


N 


O  Santa  Claus! 
If  you  had  asked 
that  car  full  of  people 
I  would  have  liked  to 
hear  the  answers  they 
would  have  given  you. 
No  Santa  Claus!  Why, 
there  was  scarce  a  man 
in  the  lot  who  didn't 
carry  a  bundle  that 
looked  as  if  it  had  just 
tumbled  out  of  his 
sleigh.  I  felt  of  one 
slyly,  and  it  was  a  boy's 
sled — a  ^'flexible  flyer," 
I  know,  because  he  left 


c 


one    at    our   house   the 
Christmas   before;    and 
I    distinctly    heard    the 
rattling    of    a    pair    of 
skates    in    that    box    in 
the    next     seat.      They 
were  all  good-natured, 
every   one,    though  the 
train  was    behind   time 
— that  is  a  sure  sign  of 
Christmas.    The  brake- 
man    wore   a    piece    of 
mistletoe  in  his  cap  and 
a  broad  grin  on  his  face, 
and    he     said     "  Merry 
Christmas"  in  a  way  to 
make  a   man  feel  good    y^Mil^S^^^^^ 
all  the  rest  of  the  day.    _jp? 


No      Santa 

7 


aus 


as 


there?      You   just 
him! 

And  then  the  train 
rolled  into  the  city  un- 
der the  big  gray  dome 
to  which  George  Wash- 
ington gave  his  name, 
and  by-and-by  I  went 
through  a  doorway 
which  all  American 
boys  would  rather  see 
than  go  to  school  a 
whole  week,  though 
they  love  their  teacher 
dearly.  It  is  true  that 
last  winter  my  own  lit- 
tle lad  told  the  kind  man 
whose  house  it  is  that 
he   would    rather    ride 


up  and  down  in  the 
elevator  at  the  hotel, 
but  that  was  because 
he  was  so  very  little  at 
the  time  and  didn't 
know  things  rightly, 
and,  besides,  it  was  his 
first  experience  with  an 
elevator. 

As  I  was  saying,  I 
went  through  the  door 
into  a  beautiful  white 
hallwith  lofty  pillars,  be- 
tween which  there  were 
regular  banks  of  holly 
with  the  red  berries 
shining  through,  just  as 
if  it  were  out  in  the 
woods!      And  from  be- 


'  ••.-  it 

imll'l 


hind  one  of  them  there 
came  the  merriest  laugh 
you  could  ever  think  of. 
Do  you  think,  now,  it 
was  that  letter  in  my 
pocket  that  gave  that 
guilty  little  throb 
against  my  heart  when  I 
heard  it,  or  what  could 
it  have  been?  I  hadn't 
even  time  to  ask  myself 
the  question,  for  there 
stoodmyhost  all  framed 
in  holly,  and  with  the 
heartiest  handclasp. 

^'Come  in,"  he  said, 
and  drew  me  after. 
^^The  coffee  is  waiting." 
And    he  beamed  upon 


the  table  with  the  ver- 
iest Christmas  face  as 
he  poured  it  out  himself, 
one  cup  for  his  dear 
wife  and  one  for  me. 
The  children — ah!  you 
should  have  asked  them 
it  there  was  a  Santa 
Claus ! 


A 


ND  so  we  sat  and 
talked,  and  I  told  ^ 


my  kind  friends  that 
my  own  dear  old  mo- 
ther, whom  I  have  not 
seen  for  years,  was  very, 
very  sick  in  far-away 
Denmark  and  longing 
for     her     bov,     and 


^ 


mist  came  into  my 
hostess's  gentle  eyes 
and  she  said,  ^^Let  us 
cable  over  and  tell  her 
how  much  we  think  of 
her/'  though  she  had 
never  seen  her.  And  it 
was  no  sooner  said  than 
done.  In  came  a  man 
with  a  writing-pad,  and 
while  we  drank  our  cof- 
fee this  message  sped 
under  the  great  stormy 
sea  to  the  far-away 
country  where  the  day 
was  shading  into  even- 
ing already  though  the 
sun  was  scarce  two  hours 
i,    high  in  Washington: 


'^ 


The   White   House, 

Mrs.  Rh's,  Ribe,  Den??iark: 

Your  son  is  breakfasting 
with  us.  We  send  you  our 
love  and  sympathy. 

Theodore  and  Edith  Roosevelt 

For,  you  see,  the 
house  with  the  holly  in 
the  hall  \yas  the  White 
House,  and  my  host  was 
the  President  of  the 
United  States.  I  have 
to  tell  it  to  you,  or  you 
might  easily  tail  into  the 
same  error  I  came  near 
falling  into.  I  had  to 
pinch  mysell  to  make 
sure  the  President  was 
not  Santa  Claus  himself. 


I  felt  that  he  had  in  that 
moment  given  me  the 
very  greatest  Christmas 
gift  any  man  ever  re- 
ceived: my  little  moth- 
er's life.  For  really  what 
ailed  her  was  that  she 
was  very  old,  and  I  know 
that  when  she  got  the 
President's  dispatch  she 
must  have  become  im- 
mediately ten  years 
younger  and  got  right 
out  of  bed.  Don't  you 
know  mothers  are  that 
way  when  any  one 
makes  much  of  their 
boys?  I  think  Santa 
Glaus    must     have 


brought  them  all  in  the 
beginning — the  moth- 
ers, I  mean. 

I  would  just  give  any- 
thing to  see  what  hap- 
pened in  that  old  town 
that  is  full  of  blessed 
memories  to  me,  when 
the  telegraph  ticked  off 
that  message.  I  will 
warrant  the  town  hur- 
ried out,  burgomaster, 
bishop,  beadle  and  all, 
to  do  honor  to  my  gen- 
tle old  mother.  No 
Santa  Claus,  eh?  What 
was  that,  then,  that 
spanned  two  oceans 
with    a    breath    of  love 


-^»  '^ 


^s 


'¥ 


-^ 


X:. 


.i'^: 


.-«- 
■^ 


<*..  O^  -ii^V 


and  cheer,  I  should  like 
to  know.  Tell  me  that! 
After  the  coffee  we 
sat  together  in  the  Pres- 
ident's office  for  a  little 
while  while  he  signed 
commissions,  each  and 
every  one  of  which  was 
just  Santa  Claus's  gift 
to  a  grown-up  boy  who 
had  been  good  in  the 
year  that  was  going;  and 
before  we  parted  the 
President  had  lifted  with 
so  many  strokes  of  his 
pen  clouds  of  sorrow 
:and  want  that  weighed 
heavily  on  homes  I  knew 
of  to  which  Santa  Claus 


i6 


h 


oj 


*c^ 


had  had  hard  work  find- 
iRg  his  way  that  Christ- 
mas. 

It  seemed  to  me  as  I 
went  out  of  the  door, 
where  the  big  policeman 
touched  his  hat  and 
wished  me  a  Merry 
Christmas,  that  the  sun 
never  shone  so  brightly 
in  May  as  it  did  then. 
I  quite  expected  to  see 
the  crocuses  and  the 
jonquils,  that  make  the 
White  House  garden  so 
pretty,  outin  full  bloom. 
They  were  not,  I  sup- 
pose, only  because  they 
are  official  flowers  and 


^-'■l>^^ 


'^K-^ 


^- 


y^--. 


.-->. 


.->■..- 


»" 


have  a  proper  respect  for 
the  calendar  that  runs 
Congress  and  the  Exec- 
utive Department,  too. 
I  stopped  on  the  way 
down  the  avenue  at  Un- 
cle Sam's  paymaster's  to 
see  what  he  thought  of 
it.  And  there  he  was, 
busy  as  could  be,  mak- 
ing ready  for  the  coming 
of  Santa  Glaus.  No 
need  of  my  asking  any 
questions  here.  Men 
stood  in  line  with  bank- 
notes in  their  hands  ask- 
ing for  gold,  new  gold- 
pieces,  they  said,  most 
every   one.      The    pay- 


master,  who  had  a  sprig 
of  Christmas  green  fixed 
in  his  desk  just  like  any 
other  man,  laughed  and 
shook  his  head  and  said 
''  Santa  Claus?  "  and  the 
men  in  the  line  laughed 
too  and  nodded  and 
went  away  with  their 
gold. 

ONE  man  who  went 
out  just  ahead  of 
me  I  saw  stoop  over  a 
poor  woman  on  the  cor- 
ner and  thrust  some- 
thing into  her  hand, 
then  walk  hastily  away. 
It    was    I   who    caught 


-^ 


J^- 


the  light  in  the  woman's 
eye  and  the  blessing 
upon  her  poor  wan  lips, 
and  the  grass  seemed 
greener  in  the  Treasury 
dooryard,  and  the  sky 
bluer  than  it  had  been 
before,  even  on  that 
bright  day.  Perhaps — 
well,  never  mind!  if  any 
one  says  anything  to 
you  about  principles 
and  giving  alms,  you 
tellhim  that  Santa  Claus 
takes  care  of  the  prin- 
ciples at  Christmas,  and 
not  to  be  afraid.  As 
for  him,  if  you  want  to 
know,  just  ask  the  old 


woman   on    the   Treas- 


ury corner. 

And  so,  walking 
down  that  Avenue  of 
Good-will,  I  came  to 
my  train  again  and  went 
home.  And  when  I  had 
time  to  think  it  all  over 
I  remembered  the  let- 
ters in  my  pocket  which 
I  had  not  opened.  I 
took  them  out  and  read 
them,  and  among  them 
were  two  sent  to  me  in 
trust  for  Santa  Glaus 
himself  which  I  had  to 
lay  away  with  the  edi- 
tor's message  until  I  got 
the  dew  rubbed  off  my 


spectacles.  One  was 
from  a  great  banker,  and 
it  contained  a  check  for 
a  thousand  dollars  to 
help  buy  a  home  for 
some  poor  children  of 
the  East  Side  tenements 
in  New  York,  where  the 
chimneys  are  so  small 
and  mean  that  scarce 
even  a  letter  will  go  up 
through  them,  so  that 
ever  so  many  little  ones 
over  there  never  get  on 
Santa  Claus's  books  at 
all. 

The  other  letter  was 

from  a  lonely  old  widow, 

^2^  almost  as  old  as  my  dear 


mother  in  Denmark, 
and  it  contained  a  two- 
dollar  bill.  For  years, 
she  wrote,  she  had  saved 
and  saved,  hoping  some 
time  to  have  five  dol- 
lars, and  then  she  would 
go  with  me  to  the  homes 
of  the  very  poor  and  be 
Santa  Claus  herself. 
^^And  wherever  you  de- 
cided it  was  right  to 
leave  a  trifle,  that  should 
be  the  place  where  it 
would  be  left,"  read  the 
letter.  But  now  she 
was  so  old  that  she 
could  no  longer  think 
of  such   a   trip   and    so 


she  sent  the  money  she 
had  saved.  And  I 
thought  of  a  family  in 
one  of  those  tenements 
where  father  and  mother 
are  both  lying  ill,  with 
a  boy,  who  ought  to  be 
in  school,  fighting  all 
alone  to  keep  the  wolf 
from  the  door,  and  win- 
ning the  fight.  I  guess 
he  has  been  too  busy  to 
send  any  message  up  the 
chimney,  if  indeed  there 
is  one  in  his  house;  but 
you  ask  him,  right  now, 
whether  he  thinks  there 
is  a  Santa  Claus  or 
not. 


wmxs 


.^ 


■A 


No  Santa  Glaus? 
Yes,  my  little 
man,  there  is  a  Santa 
Glaus,  thank  God! 
Your  father  had  just 
forgotten.  The  world 
would  indeed  be  poor 
without  one.  It  is  true 
that  he  does  not  always 
wear  a  white  beard  and 
drive  a  reindeer  team 
— not  always,  you  know 
—  but    what     does     it 


i%;^ 


matter?  He  is  Santa 
Claus  with  the  big,  lov- 
ing, Christmas  heart,  for 
all  that;  Santa  Claus  with 
the  kind  thoughts  for  -^^"^^1^^^^' 
every  one  that  make  #M<f%;^\ 


V, 


M^ 


children  and  grown-up 
people  beam  with  hap- 
piness all  daylong.  And 
shall  I  tell  you  a  secret 
which  I  did  not  learn 
at  the  post-office^  but 
it  is  true  all  the  same 
—  of  how  you  can  al- 
ways be  sure  your  letters 
go  to  him  straight  by 
the  chimney  route?  It 
is  this:  send  along  with 
them  a  friendly  thought 
for  the  boy  you  don't 
like:  for  Jack  who 
punched  you,  or  Jim 
who  was  mean  to  you. 
The  meaner  he  was  the 
harder   do   you   resolve 


6^3 


to  make  it  up:  not  to 
bear  him  a  grudge.  That 
is  the  stamp  for  the  let- 
ter to  Santa.  Nobody 
can  stop  it,  not  even  a 
cross -draught  in  the 
chimney,  when  it  has 
that  on. 

Because — don't  you 
know,  Santa  Claus  is 
the  spirit  of  Christmas: 
and  ever  and  ever  so 
many  years  ago  when 
the  dear  little  Baby  was 
born  after  whom  we 
call  Christmas,  and  was 
cradled  in  a  manger  out 
in  the  stable  because 
there   was    not    room 


CR^  tm 


in  the  inn,  that  Spirit 
came  into  the  world  to 
soften  the  hearts  of  men 
and  make  them  love 
one  another.  There- 
fore, that  is  the  mark 
of  the  Spirit  to  this  day. 
Don't  let  anybody  or 
anything  rub  it  out. 
Then  the  rest  doesn't 
matter.  Let  them  tear 
Santa's  white  beard  off 
at  the  Sunday-school 
festival  and  growl  in  his 
bearskin  coat.  These 
are  only  his  disguises. 
The  steps  of  the  real 
Santa  Claus  you  can 
trace    all    through    the 


28 


I C w ' 


'&h&:m 


^^^m 


Ju 


l^'J  \*-^' 


world  as  you  have  done 
here  with  me,  and  when 
you  stand  in  the  last  of 
his  tracks  you  will  find 
the  Blessed  Babe  of 
Bethlehem  smiling  a 
welcome  to  you.  For 
then  you  will  be  home. 


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14  DAY  USE 

KETUKN  TO  DbIk  FKOM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 


_: ^APR^em — 


LD  2lA-50m-ll.'62 
(D3279sl0)4/6B 


General  Library     . 
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